The present invention relates to nuclear fuel bundles of a type having water rods serving as supports between a lower tie plate and an upper tie plate and particularly relates to a tool kit for fabricating, inspecting and handling the nuclear fuel bundle.
In a recent nuclear fuel bundle design by the assignee of the present invention, mechanical support for the fuel bundle in an unchanneled condition is provided by a pair of central water rods connected to the lower tie plate rather than by conventional tie rods. The water rods are typically threaded and screwed into the lower tie plate and tie bars are fixed at the upper ends of the water rods for attachment to a lifting tool. The upper ends of the tie bars terminate in heads having one or more flats designed for proper orientation and fit into similarly machined complementary openings in the lift tool. The tie bar heads have a D-flat configuration, although other non-circular cross-sectional configurations can be utilized. Preferably, at least one flat is used.